


Looking up, I find the moon bright

by The_great_Amethyst



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt Mollymauk Tealeaf, Mild descriptions of violence, Mollymauk Tealeaf Comes Back, Mollymauk Tealeaf Has Feelings, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Returning Home, Sad with a Happy Ending, yeza only shows up for like three lines tho lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27012169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_great_Amethyst/pseuds/The_great_Amethyst
Summary: Before my bed there’s a pool of lightI wonder if it’s frost on the groundLooking up, I find the moon brightThen bowing my head, as I drown in homesickness -Quiet Night Thought, Li Bai.Mollymauk Tealeaf is alive, thanks to a certain tabaxi. And he's determined to find his friends again.His own mind might not be on his side on that though.Or Molly comes back as Molly, and only Molly.
Relationships: Mollymauk Tealeaf & Yasha, The Mighty Nein & Mollymauk Tealeaf
Comments: 12
Kudos: 80





	Looking up, I find the moon bright

_Before my bed there’s a pool of light_ _  
__I wonder if it’s frost on the ground_ _  
__Looking up, I find the moon bright_ _  
__Then bowing my head, as I drown in homesickness -Quiet Night Thought, Li Bai_

* * *

The first thing Molly felt was cold rushing through his body. Followed by a burning heat in his core. Then came the pattering of rain, the only sound Molly could make out. His head swirled, thoughts coming and going before he even had a chance to analyze them. The only one that seemed to stick around was the question, ‘What the hell happened?’.  
  
Without even realizing what he was doing, his hand came up to rub across his face as he let out a groan. He hadn’t even opened his eyes yet and he already wanted whatever this is to end.  
  
As he did that another sound joined the rain, a gasp, then a voice, one that was raspy but familiar which set Molly on edge.  
  
“Thank the gods, I thought you might’ve been beyond saving. Lucien, are you alright?” The raspy voice asked. Molly felt the voices hand, wait no, paws, definitely paws. He felt the voices paws touch his face, turning his head as if it was examining him. He hated it.  
  
Molly warily blinked his eyes open, taking a second to let his eyes focus on the figure in front of him. It was a black tabaxi, highlighted by the dull sun in the background, looking over him with gentle eyes that met his as he opened them.  
  
Molly knew this tabaxi, a little alarm bell in the back of his head told him so. It also told him to be careful. To be wary of who this person was. But where, and why? He squinted at the tabaxi, trying to make sense of his swimming thoughts.  
  
Then it hit him.  
  
Molly immediately shoved Cree off him, his heart pounding in his ears. He tried to stumble up, tried to get off the ground, to put up a fight. But his body fought against him, making him lose his footing, making him finally feel whatever the hell was _growing_ on his body, making his chest seize up in pure panic.  
  
He remembered. He remembered Yasha, his best friend, and all the craziness that the circus brought them. He remembered the Nein, Beau being an asshole, but a loveable one. Nott stealing whatever she could get her hands on. Caleb and his never-ending search for knowledge. Fjord with his charming persona. Jester with her neverending smile and love.  
  
The cold bitterness and anger that came when he learned that his best friends had been taken. The feeling of warm blood against his skin as he fell to the ground in front of the man who had caused all this. Then waking up for only just a moment as **_Lorenzo shoved his blade into his chest._ ** **_  
  
_**

Molly clutched his chest, his breath coming in short huffs. He scrambled to find a sign of that blade that had killed him, but he only found a deep scar on his chest with _something_ growing on it.  
  
He fell to his knees, his hands falling into the mud as he did so, not caring about his clothes, they were already dirty from him being in a grave for the second time in his very short life.  
  
“Lucien?” Cree asked quietly. Molly’s eyes snapped to hers, and he felt a boiling feeling in his chest, that almost replaced the unbridled panic.  
  
“What in the nine hells did you do?” Molly asked, his voice felt rough like there was something in there that ground at his vocal cords. He wanted to throw up.  
  
“I brought you back Lucien-”  
  
“STOP fucking calling me that,” Molly yelled cutting her off. The anger was finally too much to contain. He hated this woman with every inch of his being.  
  
“My name is Mollymauk Tealeaf, not Lucien, not Nonagon, just Molly,” He glared at Cree who was looking at him with wide eyes as she squeezed her paws together.  
  
They stayed like that for a moment before Cree sighed and started walking towards him. Molly scrambled to stand up, barely avoiding tripping over his own feet as he backed up, horrified at the idea of what Cree could be doing.   
  
“Luci, it’s just me, there’s no need to be worried about blowing whatever cover you had,” Cree said as she reached up to pat his shoulder.  
  
That was Molly’s last straw. Feeling someone who he hated now touch him made his insides want to come out of his mouth. But instead of doing that he decided that he would do what he had been doing a lot of these past months. He would fight.  
  
“ **Don’t touch me you fucking freak** ,” Molly spat out in infernal, using one of his dirty claws to cut across the eye on his palm feeling the strong sense of magic in his body as he pushed Cree away. Cree looked at him, confused before she blinked and screamed. Molly watched as Cree clutched her face as blood started to pour out of her eyes.  
  
Molly smirked as he watched this display. The wicked get what's coming to them. This smugness was quickly shot down as Cree reached out with her claws and swiped at him.  
  
And despite her literally bleeding out of her eyes, and Molly swiftly trying to move out of the way she still managed to hit him, leaving a small cut on the outside of his arm. And with the burning pain and warm blood against his skin he realized something.  
  
If Cree could revive him then that means she would definitely win in a fight. Molly’s never hung out with Clerics besides Jester but from what he’s seen her do he knew that he needed to run, and fast.  
  
Molly looked around, his eyes desperately searching for a way out, a horse or _something._ Instead, his eyes landed on a whirlwind of colors stuck on a stick above an empty pit and two blades. Somewhere, in his confused and angered mind, Molly found a pang of happiness at seeing his coat and his swords. And he felt even happier when just beyond that he saw a singular horse.  
  
Molly grinned, letting his fangs show as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Picking his coat up from the stick, wrapping it around himself, not caring about how it was soaking wet and dirty. He was just happy to have it. After that, he scooped his swords of the ground. Which he noticed was missing the Summers Dance, instead replaced by one of his old swords. Of course, the Nein would’ve taken the one thing that would’ve helped him in this situation.  
  
But despite all that, Molly still ran towards the horse.  
  
“Lucien, what the hell are you doing?” Cree yelled out, he could hear her rapidly approaching footsteps. Molly didn’t care, he was honestly glad that he was leaving her in the dust. Molly swung his legs onto the horse, grabbing onto the reins he turned back to Cree to see her running full speed towards him.  
  
“Lucien!” Molly flinched at the sheer force in her voice but kept his steady hold on the reins as he slapped them down and the horse took off. Molly could still hear Cree screaming for Lucien as he rode off into the distance.  
  


* * *

  
An hour later and the rain was still beating down on him. He had lost Cree’s track a little while ago, but he didn’t dare to stop. He didn’t know if Cree still had his blood so she could still track him. He didn’t know what her tracking entailed but he really didn’t want to find out.  
  
The horse kept going at a rapid pace, it’s hooves splashing up mud unto his pants. Molly was leaning forward, letting the rain fall onto his head. After the adrenaline of running for his life wore off and he finally calmed himself down enough to actually _think_ he realized something. 

He had no home to go to. 

The realization made Molly’s chest feel hollow like there was nothing there, not even his beating heart. Molly’s never had a real home, he was always traveling around with the circus and then with the Nein. But, he always found a home with his friends even if he never admitted it.  
  
He hadn’t traveled with the Nein long enough to truly call them home but _Yasha_ . Yasha was his home.  
  
And he didn’t know where she was. Or if she was even alive.  
  
In fact, he didn’t know much of anything. The last thing he knew three of his friends had been kidnapped. He didn’t know how long it’s been since he had been killed, or if the Nein was still even together. Molly didn’t even know why Cree wanted him-or whoever _had_ been him-back. 

Molly felt hot tears roll down his cheeks, mixing with the cold of the rain. He was alone and afraid, with nowhere to go and he felt so utterly hopeless. It was just like the first time he crawled out of a grave. This time he had memories. Which was either a blessing or a curse. 

Molly sobbed into the open air, not caring about what animals he might attract. A curse, definitely a curse. Waking up with no memories was hard, not knowing who he was, where he came from, or where he learned the things he just somehow knew. But waking up with memories?

That was harder. 

He wanted to go back to scamming people with his cards, to laying in bed with Yasha as he braided her hair, to teaching people the wonders of the world, even if it was fake at times. 

But he didn’t know if he could. 

And that shattered him to his very core. 

* * *

Hours passed, the rain slowing to a stop just as nightfall was cresting over the horizon. In those hours Molly’s mind hadn’t stopped racing, as if looking for a finish line that wasn’t there. Yet somewhere in that race, he had decided on three things.

  
One, he wouldn’t just let himself lay down and die. No matter how much he wanted to right now. Knowing that everything could be a lost cause. Even if he was running on borrowed time, he still wouldn’t let himself give up. Yasha would be disappointed if he did.

Two, that he would keep looking for the Nein no matter what, even if they had parted ways. He still wanted to know what happened after he was buried.  
  
And three, his next destination was Zadash, with a quick pit stop at Hupperdook if he could afford it. He had people to reach out to in Zadash for some help, and Beau mentioned being from there once so she could be there. The Gentleman was probably his best bet to actually get things he needed, he still owed him money from completing one job at the very least. Also, he did get killed while doing a mission for him, that had to amount to something. (He also wanted to have some none too kind words about his choice of employees.) And in Hupperdook, Rissa still owed him a drink, which he would gladly accept right now.  
  
Molly pulled off onto a small clearing with a lake on the side of the road as the sun started to set low in the sky. His horse, (who he silently named WC the second,) had been running all day, it deserved a rest. He doubted Cree could catch up to him now, even if she walked through the night it still wouldn’t be enough to catch up with a horse that’s been running all day.  
  
Plus, he was too tired, hungry, and disgusted by his clothes and whatever was growing on his body to want to continue going. Molly slowly got off his horse onto the muddy road, taking WC and leading him to a nearby tree to tie him off.  
  
Molly petted WC’s head, before turning to the lake, taking a deep breath, and booking it to the edge of the lake. Throwing his clothes onto the driest patch of land he could find. He desperately wanted to wash his dirty clothes but he was sane enough to realize that he would need them for warmth if he didn’t want to die of hypothermia.  
  
Once his clothes were off he jumped into the lake without even thinking of doing anything else. Letting the water completely surround him before coming up and letting himself breathe. The water was bitter cold, from both the recent rain and the fact that it was just turning to nightfall. It burned at his skin, like it was biting it, so unlike the bathhouses he loves. He couldn’t find himself to care though, the water washed over him, removing layers of dirt that had been caked onto his body. His eyes caught a flash of pink coming off his chest and his heart sank.

Oh. He nearly forgot that something had been...growing on him. Molly’s head spun again, feeling like everything he hadn’t eaten today could come up at any moment. Despite his empty stomach lurching, and his hands shaking he still reached out and gathered the substance on his pointer finger. 

It felt like time stood still in the little lake, the crickets seemed to stop chirping their tune and the sunset seemed to stop in its tracks. Molly brought the substance close to his face, trying to figure out if it was what he thought it was. He instead opts to rub it in between his fingers and sharply inhales once he does. It was rough, grainy, and smelled like the earth.  
  
It was moss.  
  
Now, Molly admittedly didn’t know much about how bodies decayed. Unsurprisingly in his two years of life, he had failed to fall into studying that particular thing, and he doubted anyone actually did. But there was one thing that he knew and it was that once bodies started to decompose they could start to grow plants, but usually only after a very long time. And that struck Molly in the head like Beau was there swinging at him with her staff. 

He felt his chest tighten as he realized that hey, hey, if moss, actual fucking _moss_ was growing on him then he had been buried for more than a while. Molly’s throat closed up, making it hard for him to take a proper breath, and suddenly the cold biting water was starting to bother him. As it lapped, slowly washing off any signs that he had been underground, and all his confidence he had just earned back along with it. 

Molly brought a hand up to his throat, massaging it gently with his fingers trying to get his airways to open. But that didn’t stop the tears from welling up in his eyes, the sinking feeling in his stomach to stop or his mind to slow down.

Thinking about how it had to have been years at the very least. Asking himself if tabaxi lived just as long as Elfs did because if they did then it could’ve been at least hundreds of years since he had been buried and all his friends could be dead. 

_No_ , another, side of his mind said, the one that was failing at calming him down. It couldn't have been a hundred years because Cree needed a body to resurrect him, and if it had been a hundred years he would’ve just been a skeleton in a pit. 

_But_ , the other side of his panicked mind chimed back in, just because it hasn’t been a hundred years doesn't mean it hasn’t been years. The gentleman could’ve quite his little crime circle, Rissa could’ve moved out of Hupperdook. Hell, even the Pumat Sol’s could’ve packed their bags and ran. 

Molly impulsively moved his hands as he shook his head, trying to make sense of what was going through his head because it didn’t make sense. He pulled at the hair at the base of his horns, trying to ground to something and hoping the sharp pain would do that.

It didn’t.

His mind kept on racing, just when he had just started to get it under control, just when he thought he had a plan one stupid fucking piece of moss had to come and cut it away like it was slicing through his skin. Molly just wanted his thoughts to stop, to stop making him think of his friends lying in a grave, to stop thinking about how long it’s been. He just wanted it to stop, _stop_ , **_stop_ ** , **_stop-_ **

Molly suddenly ducked underwater, feeling the now unwelcome cold of the lake against his face. It hurt for a split second, the cold biting at his skin before it slowly started to fade into a slow cold ache that matched the rest of his body. 

The coldness of the water seemed to shock his system though, because as soon as he came back up for air his mind was clear, with only vague thoughts of panic passing through every once and awhile. 

Molly let out a shaky breath and combed his hand through his hair to get it out of his face. He stood there for a few minutes, trying to get his breathing evened out and the sinking feeling in his stomach to go away.  
  
The crickets slowly returned to their tune and the sun started to go down again and Molly found that he was able to lose himself in it as he started to scrub at his body. Hoping to get as clean as soon as he could, but trying to not look directly at the moss flaking off his body.  
  


His thoughts came idly. In waves almost. And he found himself asking the same questions, only in a less panicked fashion, and at the end of it all, when he climbed out of the lake, the sun letting out its final rays as it faded into the distance he found himself with just one answer.  
  
He didn’t know. And he was mostly okay with that. 

Mollymauk Tealeaf wasn’t one to give up, even if the world had moved on without him, even if things had changed, he wouldn’t give up looking for his friends, looking for his home. 

Molly shrugged on his coat after he threw his shirt and pants on, frowning slightly as he realized just how dirty his coat was. He was going to have to pay someone to clean it, which would be a bitch considering he had no money. Huffing, he put his hands into his pockets, not expecting anything to be there. Having long since made peace with the fact that the Nein had probably taken all his possessions that were worth something. 

Instead of nothing though, he felt a damp substance immediately stick onto his hand. Raising a brow at his pocket he slowly grabbed onto it and pulled it out. What he found was a sheet of torn off paper, with ruined ink scribbled onto it. Molly held it with both hands and squinted at it, trying to make sense of the ruined letters. 

Was this something from Cree? Something she put in his pocket for Lucien or whoever the fuck she was trying to revive? Maybe-  
  
Molly suddenly stopped his train of thought as he blinked at the paper, finally understanding at least a bit of what was on the paper.  
  


 _...our name is Mollymauk Tealeaf._ _  
__You were…..a group called the Mighty Nein. Find…..in Zadash….the Gentleman._

_~~Your Friend~~ Sincerely, Caleb Widogast._   
  


Molly stared down at the paper for a long time, processing what the note said before he finally broke out in a soft smile, feeling for the first time in what had been a very long day, a strand of hope. Caleb had written a note for him, just in case he came back like he once did. His friends had thought about him and his past and didn’t just shove him in a grave. They thought about him. And they wanted him to look for them. Not like he wasn’t going to anyways, it was just nice to know that they wanted it too.  
  
And now, he had an actual lead through the Gentleman that wasn’t just showing up on his doorstep demanding money. Now he could show up on his doorstep, demand money, _and_ ask where the hell his friends were. Even better. 

Molly carefully folded the note and put it in his pocket. Walking to a nearby line of trees to look for some firewood with a spring in his step that hadn’t been there before.  
  


* * *

The rest of the night went as smoothly as it possibly could for someone who recently crawled out of a grave. He managed to find some wood that was protected from the rain by the dense leaves of nearby trees, and after an hour of trying, he finally got a fire set up. 

Looking for food was a little more difficult though. He tried finding berries and fruits in the tree line but found nothing. And trying to get fish from the pond just ended in Molly cursing and walking back to the fire. By the time Molly had called it quits on the fishing the half-crescent moon had already been up for hours. So, he just decided to look for food in the morning. He could survive one night without any food. Probably. 

He went to sleep that night after praying on his swords and treating his wound to the best of his ability with his coat draped over him. As close to the fire as he could possibly get without burning anything. And if he had taken out the letter to read it over and over again to loll himself to sleep and kept doing it again and again after his nightmares woke him up then nobody had to know. 

* * *

Molly woke up to the smell of meat in the air and the sizzle that accompanied cooking it. For a split moment while he reached up to rub the sleep out of his eyes he thought he was back with the Nein. Waking up to Nott cooking a meal to which everyone would ask how she knew it, considering she was just a kid. She would’ve just shrugged and said she picked it up from her friend. 

But then he remembered that he had just woken up from being dead, away from the Nein and alone and running from Cree. Or at least he _should_ be alone. Along with the sizzling sound he now also heard the quiet banging of metal and some slow humming. 

Molly fully woke up immediately, rolling out from under his coat and reaching for his swords by his side, his heart pounding in his chest. He quickly and gracefully got up. Planting one of his swords in the ground to help steady him. Rapidly turning on his heel to face the person with his sword pointing forward. Making sure that he seemed confident in his actions, even though he was panicked out of his mind. He expected Cree to be there, somehow catching up to him in the night. Or hell, even a bandit, he was close to Shady Creek Run after all. 

Instead of a tabaxi or a dirty thief, he found himself looking at a woman with fine clothes, sitting on the ground next to his fire as she cooked. Molly blinked, slowly lowering his sword just a bit as he was filled with unbridled confusion. The woman looked back up at him, and smiled at him, seemingly not threatened by the sword he had pointing at her.  
  


The woman looked _nice_ . Not like she belonged in the woods cooking something near a guy who just woke up from being dead. She had brown skin with long white hair, her golden freckles sitting on her face making her look younger than she probably was and- _holy shit was that a halo?_

“Heya!” The woman said with a small wave of her hand. “You were asleep when I got here so I figured I might as well cook us something while I waited, you can put your sword down by the way. I’m not here to hurt you, probably.” She had a sweet voice, one that Molly found both off-putting and like a warm hug at the same time. 

Molly continued to stare at her opening and closing his mouth for a solid minute, more confused than he had even been in his life. This woman had a fucking _halo_ . Was just casually sitting there like she _wasn’t_ creepily watching him sleep. Even if she supposedly didn’t want to hurt him. 

What the fuck.

  
The woman cocked her head to the side a bit. “Are you alright?”

“Who the hell are you?” Molly blurted out instead of answering, pointing his sword directly at her face. Despite his shaking hand. A million possibilities went through his mind at who this woman could be, some of them better than others. One of them even had her being an actual angel. But that couldn’t be right. He wasn’t dead.

Right?  
  


The woman blinked at him, then slowly cracked a soft smile. “My name is Reani, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Purple Man. But please put down your sword,”  
  
He furrowed his eyebrows. “Mr. Purple Man?” He asked with the barest hint of amusement in his voice. Somewhere distantly in his mind, he thought that Jester would like this woman.  
  
The woman-Reani-laughed softly and she took her eyes off him as she took the pan of meat off the fire, slowly sliding it onto a plate by her side. “Oh uh yeah, it’s kinda just what I started to call you while I was waiting since Samliel never told me your name and it was kinda weird to not have a name for you. What is your name by the way?”  
  
Okay, now Molly was even more confused. 

His sword slowly fell limply to his side, but he still kept a tight grip on it. Reani clearly wasn’t asking for a fight, he knew that now, but what the hell _was_ she doing here? And who the hell is Samliel? His head started to hurt from how many questions he had trapped inside it.  
  
“Mollymauk Tealeaf…….Molly to my friends,” Molly said slowly, looking at her for any reaction at all other than unending cheerfulness.  
  


He didn’t get that though, as she set the now-empty pan on a piece of cloth, wiping her hands on her dress before looking back up at him with a grin.  
  
“Well, then good to meet you Molly I-”  
  
“Mollymauk,” He corrected quickly. “You haven’t quite made it to the point where you can call me Molly,”  
  
Reani looked almost...sad for a moment. She frowned, her eyes showing genuine hurt in them. Which made Molly almost feel bad for a moment but then he remembered that she had been sitting there while he had been asleep and vulnerable. It made him want to throw up.   
  
“Of course, I’m sorry Mollymauk, I hope I’ll get to that point soon!” Reani smiled sheepishly, yet Molly could tell she was determined by the look in her eye, and Molly couldn’t help but smile back if only for a brief second before Reani started again.  
  
“But, I was hoping that you would sit down, eat with me and we’ll talk since yeah, I was admittedly being kinda creepy with the watching you sleep thing. But! But I swear I wasn’t trying to, you just looked so peaceful while you were sleeping and I couldn’t bring myself to wake you up,” She had her hands up in front of her as she defended herself.  
  
Molly tilted his head but nodded along with her words anyways, not quite believing her excuse. He almost wanted to turn around, get on WC and ride off. But...he didn’t have anything to eat last night and the food she made smelled like heaven and she genuinely did seem like she wanted to talk to him, she did have plenty of opportunities to kill him in his sleep. Plus the whole halo thing.  
  
Fuck it. 

He grabbed his coat off the ground, quickly putting it on himself before staring down at his sword sheaths, deciding that he wouldn’t put his sword away quite yet. Molly slowly walked next to Reani and sat down with his legs crossed, laying his sword across his knees.  
  
“So,” Molly said with a small playful smile. One akin to the one he would wear while he was talking up folks to convince them to do something. “What did you make?”  
  
Reani grinned, showing her pearly white teeth as she clapped her hands and rubbed them together. “Well, I just got the bacon done, but I also cooked some vegetables, set out some fruit and I still have some cupcakes from when I was back home, the blueberry ones are the best for in the morning, help yourself to whatever though!” Reani thrusted a plate into his hands as she was talking and Molly had to admit, it was a pretty good amount of food for it being just the two of them.  
  
He wouldn’t complain though. Molly shoved food onto his plate, ignoring the cupcakes to his side as he did so. They looked a little too stale for Molly’s liking. Reani started to do the same with her plate, only she chose to ignore the vegetables in favor of having two cupcakes.  
  
They sat in silence for a bit while they started to eat. Until Molly’s mind and nerves got the better of his empty stomach. Turning to look at her, then slowly looking up at the halo around her head.  
  
“I don’t know if this is a rude question, and if I’m being honest I wouldn’t care if it was but, are you an angel? And adding onto that, have I somehow died again?” Molly questioned, leaning into her a bit to ask it.  
  
Reani looked at him, mid-bite of one of her cupcakes before shaking her head.  
  
“Oh uh no,” Reani covered her mouth with the back of her hand and swallowed her bite. “No, you're not dead, unless I’m dead too but I’m pretty sure I’m not. And, No, I’m not an angel, a lot of people get confused by that though, probably because of the whole halo thing,” She gestured to said halo briefly with her free hand. 

“I’ve had it since Samliel came to visit me, he’s an actual angel though, at least I think he is,” Reani tapped on her chin for a minute, staring up at the sky like it would give her answers. While Molly was staring at her hoping she would give him answers.  
  
“What?” Molly asked incredulously because it’s not every day that someone implies that they both talk to an angel and that said angel sent her to look for him. Someone who just crawled out of a grave. 

Reani looked back towards him immediately. “Oh yeah sorry, I haven’t explained a whole lot haven’t I?” She scratched the back of her neck while Molly just nodded.  
  
“Hmm how to explain this….oh I know!” Reani put her hands in her lap and leaned towards Molly so her face was almost uncomfortably close. “You know what twenty questions is right?” Molly nodded. They played it while he was on the road with both the circus and the Nein.  
  
“Well, why don’t we play that! Because I have a lot of questions that I wanna ask you, and you have a lot of questions you want to ask me! It’s a win-win for each of us,”  
  
Molly hesitated but slowly nodded.  
  
“You know what? Sure,”  
  
“Great! I’ll go first since you already asked me a question. And I need you to be completely honest about this alright?”  
  
“Of course why wouldn’t I be honest?” He probably wouldn’t depending on what the question was. But he would try his best to be. If he was honest with her then she’ll be more honest with him.  
  
Reani’s jovial smile suddenly disappeared, her eyes glaring at him, missing that spark of happiness they had before. Molly unconsciously leaned back a bit, rubbing the cuffs of his coat with his fingers.  
  
“Are you evil?”  
  
Molly froze up, his mind repeating the question several times, not quite believing what he was hearing. He was expecting something much worse than that.  
  
“...I would like to think that I’m not,” Molly said after a few seconds, narrowing his eyes at her.  
  
Reani’s smile appeared again, and she hummed happily. “Good, cause if you were then I would have to kill you,” She said with a shrug, quickly taking another bite of her cupcake.  
  
Molly blinked, then ran his hands across his face, groaning loudly. Suddenly, he was very glad that he wasn’t someone that most people considered ‘evil’.  
  
“I have _so_ many questions,”   
  
Reani laughed a bit. “You only have one until I get another question so, go ahead and ask it,”  
  
Molly sighed and looked down, trying to figure out what question he could ask. Which one held the most importance. All of them did have the same level of importance considering that he knew nothing about this woman. But, finally, he looked back at her.  
  
“You said that this Samliel told you to look for me right? That doesn’t count as my question by the way,”  
  
Reani nodded, so he kept going.  
  
“Could you explain that? Because I’m a little confused, in general really,”  
  
“Yeah!” Reani set down her cupcake on her plate and wiped off her dress. “Samliel is basically my guardian angel, but instead of guarding me, he tells me what to do. Not all the time, just some of the time on big important stuff. Like to kill all evil and all that.” Reani shrugged as she said that, slowly looking down to her lap like she was pondering something, pausing for a moment before speaking again.  
  
“And he told me to go and find you, telling me that it was basically a fifty fifty on whether I would have to kill you or not, depending on ‘Who you woke up as’ according to him,”  
  
Molly’s throat went dry as she said those words, his heart dropping to his stomach.  
  
“Oh,”  
  
 _Oh._ He could’ve been resurrected as Lucien, or whoever he had been before digging himself out of a grave. The thought hadn’t occurred to him until now, he was too caught up in what he was going to do to think about what could’ve happened. But now that it had, it was the only thing he could think about, an all-consuming thought that covered every corner of his mind because it made so much sense. 

He knew that he was running on borrowed time, that people usually don’t wake up in a fucking grave with no memories. Only saying ‘empty’ for two weeks. That whoever had been in his body first hadn’t been the best person. It’s why he tried to run from it and had succeeded for two long happy years. 

Then Cree came and ruined that, made him think about his past, came back, and resurrected him even though if he had the option he would’ve never wanted to come back. And, what if whoever was in his body before was the one who got to come back? What if Cree had been successful?  
  
The thought made his stomach churn, feeling the breakfast he just ate threaten to come back up. If Cree had been successful, then he almost wanted Reani to come in and kill Lucien or Nonagon or _whoever_ it was. Gods know that they probably lean more on the evil side.  
  
“Hey,”  
  
Molly was suddenly dragged out of his thoughts by the sweet honey-like sound of Reani’s voice. His eyes snapped up to meet hers.  
  
“Are you okay? You kinda spaced out for a second,” Reani said with her brows knitted together in worry.  
  
Molly closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to clear his thoughts to the best of his ability before he opened them again. He smiled at her.  
  
“I’m fine just ah thinking. Which isn’t my strong suit,”  
  
Reani stayed silent for a moment, staring at him like she was trying to decipher his soul. She finally spoke up after a minute.  
  
“Do you still want to play Twenty Questions? It’s totally fine if you don’t want to, we could just sit…. In silence….and eat or something,”  
  


Molly quickly shook his head. 

“No, no It’s fine, just hurry up and ask your next question,” He said quickly, adding a small “Please,” after a few seconds.  
  
“You probably know what I’m going to ask, Mollymauk,” Reani said quietly, clearly understanding that there was more than meets the eye here. Molly felt a lump form in his throat. He did know what she was going to ask. It was so obvious that even someone like him could figure it out.

“What did Samliel mean?”  
  
Molly immediately looked down at the sword across his lap, suddenly finding it very interesting. The silence stretched on for a few minutes, only interrupted by the occasional chirping of birds and Reani moving in someway every once and awhile. He could tell Reani, he really had nothing to lose if he did, even if she was conning him. Which he highly doubted now if he was being completely honest. Molly didn’t know much, but he knew how to tell if someone was pulling one over on him. And he highly doubts that Reani could be doing that, nobody thought of ‘guardian angel’ as a cover story. 

He almost wanted to tell her, to spill it all out and hope she would help and a little part of his mind told him that she _would_ help. But he had to be careful, she did want to kill all evil, and he didn’t know if being resurrected was considered evil, but he’d rather not find out thank you very much. 

“It’s quite a long story and I really wouldn’t want to bore you. Since boring is well, boring,” 

“I don’t mind! Long stories are usually the best stories. That’s what Landon always said at least,”  
  
And so, Molly took a deep breath and started his story. He told her about how he crawled himself out of a grave two years ago, how the circus took him in until it had to be broken up, and about how he died again. How he died trying to save his friends and how Cree had brought him back and knew who used to be in his body. He spared the details about his friends, even though it hurt him to not include them but he wanted to get this done as soon as possible. 

Reani just nodded along silently, a look of pity slowly forming on her face. Molly wanted to wipe it clean off her face, he didn’t like to be pitied. 

“And that’s basically what’s happened, give or take a few details,” Molly finished quietly. Reani didn’t say anything for a few moments so Molly spoke again. “You don’t have to be sad for me, or pity me because Moonweaver knows I would hate that. I’ve moved on, hell it never really bothered me that much at all,”

“What about the recent stuff?” Reani asked, Molly could barely hear her from how quite she talked. Molly glanced down to the ground and sighed before dragging his gaze back up.  
  
“Nothing I can’t recover from,” He said with a half-grin. Reani stared at him with narrowed eyes, that feeling of her looking into his soul returning. Molly swallowed, crossing his arms. 

Reani quietly shrugged, before leaning forward onto her hand with her elbow on her knee. “Question-”  
  
“I thought it was my turn but go ahead,” Molly grinned for real this time. He felt oddly comfortable around Reani now, even though he didn’t know much about the woman yet.  
  
Reani snorted at that, quickly returning his smile. “I’ll let you have two questions as well so don’t worry about it. But! Here’s my question, if, hypothetically, totally not in any way going to happen. If I went after this Cree woman and had a little chat with her, found out that she was probably most definitely evil, would you be fine if I killed her?”  
  
Molly paused, before tilting his head towards her, staring at her like she had just told him that Beau didn’t have a crush on Yasha.  
  
Reani stared back at him, and he realized that she wasn’t making a weird joke. He took a deep breath, and thought about it for a few seconds before saying, “I mean, no,” 

Reani _smiled_ at that, and Molly was once again very glad that he wasn’t considered evil by her standards.  
  
“But,” Molly quickly said. “At least talk to her first, you know, gather information. Maybe she’s not as bad as we think she is,” That was highly unlikely, and even as he said those words he found himself grimacing. He liked to see the best in people to a certain degree, and Cree had passed it by resurrecting him. 

Reani huffed and crossed her arms but said. “Fine, I’m still gonna kill her though. And ask her about who used to be in your body, because honestly he, wait, she? They?”  
  


Reani looked at him for some type of guidance but he just shrugged. Who knows what Lucien went by.  
  
“They then, _but_ this Lucien guy seems evil, probably more evil than Cree,”

Molly laughed somewhat bitterly. “You and I can agree on that,” 

Reani looked at him with the same pity in her eyes that he had seen earlier but it was gone in a flash. Replaced by another smile. 

“I’m sorry for thinking that you’re evil by the way, Mollymauk, cause you're totally not,” 

Molly slightly shook his head, a smile that matched Reani’s forming on his face. The conversation seemed to be slipping from the less serious tone it had and Molly was ecstatic about it.  
  
“It’s no problem really,” Molly looked at her with shining eyes, and in a split-second decision that he was sure that he would look back on with great pride he said, “And it’s Molly, no need for the Mollymauk shit,”  
  
Reani _gasped_ , her casual smile suddenly turning into a huge grin. Molly could’ve sworn that she had stars in her eyes. Reani slammed her hands on the ground.  
  
“Wait! Does that mean we’re friends now?”  
  
“I did say that my friends call me Molly, didn’t I?”  
  
She squealed and in a blink of an eye, she had her arms wrapped around Molly in a tight hug. Molly froze up at first, his body and mind not knowing how to react before he wrapped his arms around her too. Part of his mind screamed at him for it, screamed that he still didn’t completely know Reani, that the last time he had even been touched since he'd woken up was from Cree. But another part of his mind put that part in a sack and kept it there and let him enjoy this moment.

They pulled away after a few seconds, and as soon as they did Molly quickly put his sword back in its sheath. He didn’t need it now.  
  
Reani on the other hand, shifted, rubbing her hand on her knee and avoiding his gaze. 

“Sorry if I made you uncomfortable or something I know everyone’s not cool with hugs and-” 

“It’s fine, don’t worry yourself over something like a _hug,”_ Molly said, interrupting her. “What you should be worried about though, is the fact that I have two questions in a row that I get to ask you,”  
  
Reani raised her eyebrows. “Why’re two questions in a row better than back and forth questions?”  
  


Molly shrugged. “Follow up questions are easier,” He leaned forward with a smug look on his face. “So, where did you come from?” 

They spent the next few hours like that. Asking questions back and forth well over the twenty marker, those questions eventually becoming stories. And despite Molly knowing that he should say his goodbyes and get going to Zadash so he could see his friends faster but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. This was the first time since he’s come back that he’s felt like he could enjoy himself and relax. He had the sneaking suspicion that if he left he wouldn’t feel that again until he saw his friends. 

Reani was fantastic to talk to, Molly’s always liked people who weren’t exactly what most people considered normal. And Reani was anything but normal. She told him about how she grew up in Nicodranas. She told him about how she gained “Super cool druid powers” when she went into the woods as a child. About her life in a city called Uthodurn and her friends there. About how right now she was meant to be on an expedition in the Savalirwood right now but how she definitely enjoying this more. She even told him about stuff he’s missed while he was gone, even telling him that it’s only been about a year since he died and Molly couldn’t describe the sense of relief that came from that knowledge. 

In return, Molly told her about the circus. About Yasha. About tarot cards and that if they ever meet again on better terms that Molly will give her a reading. He didn’t mention the rest of the Nein no matter how desperately he wanted to. He felt like if he did then that would lead into the ‘I have to go’ conversation, and he really didn’t want that. Plus, the father he got into this conversation the more he realized that Reani considered almost any super illegal act evil. Which in all honesty terrified Molly considering he hasn’t been the most moral person, and the rest of the Neins track record wasn’t great either. And he’d rather her not go and kill his friends. 

“Oh! Oh I got one,” Reani said suddenly, shooting up straight and looking at him with a wide grin. He was going over the different meanings of each tarot card and how they could potentially be interpreted while Reani had thought of a story to tell him. He was honestly glad she thought of one, tarot cards weren’t all that exciting when it was just laid out on paper for you. 

“So, a few weeks ago Samliel came to visit me and told me I had to find a white dragon, right?” 

Molly raised his eyebrows in shock but nodded frantically to encourage her to keep going. It’s not every day that you hear about a dragon. Hell, Molly hadn’t heard anyone talk about dragons before. 

“Which is kinda tall order for even me, who’s kicked so much ass, but, I was wandering around planning on heading to my friend’s place to ask him about it. When I got there there was a group of people already there who wanted to go find a white dragon as well. I think they were called the ‘Mighty Nein’ or something like that, they only said it once or twice around me so I don’t really know,”  
  
The rest of her story was drowned out to Molly like he was underwater and all he could catch were bits and pieces. He caught bits and pieces of it, how they had become friends, how the Nein needed the white dragon for some type of sword, and something about bread? He didn’t really know if he was being honest, the only thing he could pay attention to was the thoughts in his own head as he turned that sentence over and over in his head. 

She knew the Nein, she hadn’t killed them for doing bad things, she _liked_ them. Reani could help him, she might know where they are right now, she might be able to point him in the right direction. And most of all, they were alive and still together, even after a year. 

But one thing stook out to him as she told her story. And it made his throat feel like it’s on fire.  
  
“I know them,” Molly said, cutting Reani off as she was telling him about breaking into a house. “The Mighty Nein-they were the group I traveled with before I died,”  
  
Reani stared at him for a moment, neither of them saying anything for a moment.  
  
“That….makes a lot of sense actually, they seem like people you would like,” Reani said with a soft smile.  
  
“Yeah they are but…..” Molly swallowed down the lump in his throat. “What about Yasha?” Molly had told her about Yasha, what she looked like, how she liked flowers and how she could and would kick anyone's ass at a moment's notice. But Reani showed no recognition of knowing her, just saying how she and Yasha would be great friends if they ever met. And Molly didn’t expect her to know Yasha an hour ago, but now he almost did.

Reani tilted her head. “Oh, your friend? What about her?”  
  
Molly felt like screaming. He knew that Yasha could disappear for days, hell even weeks at a time and that she could’ve just been gone when they met Reani. Or maybe she had just left the Nein entirely. But knowing where she had been when he died, knowing that she could’ve been _killed_ left a bitter taste in his mouth.  
  
“Yasha was a part of the Nein,” He said softly, before making direct eye contact with her. “But I’m sure she’s fine, she was probably off doing something for the Stormlord, nothing to worry about,” He said, trying to convince himself that those words were the truth.  
  
Reani nodded, but her lips were formed in a half frown like she didn’t quite believe him.  
“I’m sure she’s fine Molly, you said that she could kick anyone’s ass, so I doubt she would have a problem with anything,” Reani said confidently. Molly grinned at that.  
  
“Yeah, you’re probably right. She’d kick _my_ ass if she heard me worrying over her well being if I’m being honest,” Molly said with a slight laugh. The last time he worried over Yasha after she had been gone for two weeks, she had come back with a cut across her collarbone. Molly had asked her what happened, telling her to never do that again before she cut him off telling him that she would always come back alive.  
  
He had believed her then, and he wanted to believe her now. 

The wind seemed to pick up, coming in from the east and brushing against Molly’s hands. He and Reani didn’t say anything after that for a while. She seemed to be thinking of something, her eyes were closed and she seemed almost distant from the world around her. While Molly wanted to speak, wanted to ask her, but he couldn’t get it past his throat. 

He _definitely_ didn’t want to have the ‘I have to go’ conversation. Even more so now that he wanted to ask Reani for help. 

Eventually, Reani’s eyes shot open. “Do you want to find them? The Mighty Nein I mean,” She asked abruptly but softly. 

Molly looked down, avoiding her eyes. “Of course I do, they were fantastic people, even if they did some ah questionable things at times,” Molly sighed, starting to rub at the edges of his coat with his fingers.  
  
“And, I know where to go, well not to find them but just….in general, for some help,”  
  
Reani steepled her fingers in front of her and nodded. “Where do you need to go?” She asked, suddenly looking very determined.  
  
“Zadash, it’s in the empire,”  
  
“I can help you get there,”  
  
Molly eyes shot back up to look at her, making direct eye contact with her, searching for any signs that she was lying. He couldn’t find any.  
  
“I mean, I can’t get you all the way there since I have to get back really soon, but I can get you across the border to the Empire, and it’ll be a lot faster than using a horse. I would feel bad for leaving WC here,” She looked towards the horse for a moment before looking back at him. “But I can talk to him and tell him to go start his own horse family or something,” She said with a shrug.  
  
Molly took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. Feeling like he was on top of the word for just a moment. His chest filling with happiness.  
“I-Thank you,”  
  
“It’s no problem, really, Molly, unless you're afraid of heights then that is a problem,”  
  
Molly furrowed his eyebrows.  
  
“We’re going to be flying,” Reani quickly clarified. “Via my super cool druid powers. But, obviously, if you do this you won’t have a horse anymore and will have to walk all the way once I drop you off,” 

He just shrugged. “I can hitch a few rides if I need to, don’t worry about it,” He said with a grin forming on his face. He was doing this. He was going to find them.  
  
“Alright, if you're sure then,” Reani stood up, brushing dirt off of herself before leaning down to pick up the remnants of their breakfast that hadn’t been put away. “Let’s go!”  
  
Molly blinked and looked up at her. “Right now?” He asked, but he was already getting up off the ground, anticipation to leave filling in his chest.  
  
“Nothing like the present!” Reani said, and he couldn’t agree more. 

They took a few minutes to clean up and let Reani speak to WC who then ran off as soon as she was done. She even stood and gave him her backpack with everything not important to her taken out of it. Saying that she was going back to Uthodurn on a run soon anyway. Molly couldn’t have been more grateful for that, seeing as how he didn’t really have a plan for food anyways. But soon they were up in the sky, Molly holding on tight to the pearl white bird Reani had turned into. 

It felt fantastic. No, it felt more than fantastic, it felt _freeing._ After being in the dirt, after being afraid for his own life and his friend’s lives, flying felt like heaven. With the wind in his hair, looking down on the forest below, Molly could actually think without feeling vile panic in his chest. It was nice to sit and just think without feeling a sense of dread at what his future could look like. He knew what he was doing, he knew what to do, and he wouldn’t stop until he got it.

They flew for hours, eventually flying over a gate that Molly had passed not long before, though it had been a year now he supposed. Looking down on it they flew by, Molly was surprised to see how many guards were there. In just a brief glance Molly could see what had to be at least a hundred. Suddenly he was even more glad that Reani offered him a ride. He definitely didn’t want to go through _that_. 

A little bit after they passed the gate they flew over a city, with smokestacks so high that Molly swore that if he leaned down just a little he could touch them with his hands. Hupperdook. Molly took a moment to mourn the fact that he wouldn’t be getting that drink from Rissa anytime soon and silently promised himself to come back here as soon as possible.

They flew for only a little bit after that, eventually, Reani had dived down into a small clearing, slowing her descent so she could land peacefully on the ground. Molly took the clue and swung his leg off of her.  
  
“Guess this is goodbye then huh?”  
  
Reani’s feathers ruffled before there was a quick flash of light and she was suddenly in her human form again. She had a small frown on her face as she took a step towards him.  
  
“Yeah, it is,” She sighed and looked down for a moment. A pause before. “It was nice to meet you, Molly,”  
  


Molly smiled softly. “It was a pleasure to meet you as well, Reani,” He took a step forward, just so he could reach her, then planted a quick kiss on her cheek.  
  
“Really though, thank you,” He said leaning back a bit.  
  
Reani looked back to him with bewildered eyes before grinning at him. “Of course! Anything to help a friend,” 

She reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which made Molly smile. He liked people who didn’t immediately hate him when he did that as a friendly gesture.   
  
“I’m holding you to that tarot reading by the way,”  
  
Molly laughed a full-hearted one that he felt like he hadn’t had in a long time. It almost felt better than flying. 

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,”  
  
Reani smiled at him. He gave her a smile back and a firm nod, and in another flash of light, she was a bird again. And with one look towards him she was off, and Molly watched her go until she was just a speck of white in the distance. Thanking her once more. 

* * *

The next few weeks weren't the best, but they weren’t the worst either. A few days after Reani dropped him off he ran into an elven merchant, Vaeri. Managing to convince her to let him ride with her if he would protect her from anything that could come for them on the road. It was a pretty good deal, all things considering, he didn’t have to do much except keep the occasional wolf or thief away. The only thing that annoyed him was that she wasn’t much for talking, leaving Molly alone with his thoughts most of the time. 

Which wasn’t all that great. 

Most of the time he was fine. Thinking about old tricks from the circus, or making a list of things he would need to do once he got to Zadash besides seeing the Gentleman. Or even how the Nein was doing, and imagining how nice it would be to see them again.  
  
Other times his thoughts weren’t nice. 

In the dead of night, when the only sound to be heard was the sound of his own breathing, he let his thoughts get the better of him. The thoughts of Cree chasing after him, the thoughts of the Nein being brutally murdered in the same way he had. Or who Lucien had been, and what the hell they had done. 

Sometimes he would only think of Yasha. Knowing that the last time he had been here she was locked in one of those cages, knowing that Reani had never seen Yasha. 

It _terrified_ him.

Logically he knew Yasha could handle herself, knew that she could run off on her own and come back without a scratch most of the time. But it still worried him to no end, making him want to dump his dinner out onto the grass at the mere thought of where Yasha could be. 

Then there were the thoughts of Lorenzo. The thoughts of him capturing his friends, the thought of what they could’ve gone through while he wasn’t there. The thought of Lorenzo shoving his blade into his chest, leaving a deep scar in his chest. Sometimes he had nightmares about that day, waking up in a cold sweat, feeling like a sword had been driven through his chest once again. 

He didn’t sleep much on those nights. 

Eventually though, on one sunny autumn day, he saw it. His eyes lit up and he scrambled to the front of the cart just to make sure he was seeing it correctly. 

The gates of Zadash. 

Molly grinned like a cat who just caught a mouse. 

It didn’t take long for them to make it into Zadash and as soon as they were in Molly hopped off the still moving cart, thanking Vaeri before running as fast as his legs could carry him towards the Evening Nip. 

Molly never had the sense of returning home, everytime Yasha had read a novel to him where the main character goes on a long rant on how great it was to return home he’s just never gotten it. Thinking that it was just some paragraphs writers added in to add more pages to their novel. 

He understood at least a bit of that now though. Feeling the air around him shift into that of a busy city, hearing the bustling of people on their day to day business and the screams of children playing in the streets. He had spent so much time here that Zadash almost felt like home in a way, and it was much nicer than being out on the road. And not for the first time since he was resurrected he had an itch for his tarot cards, wanting to bring a sense of wonder into these people's lives while he was here. Maybe making a silver or two while he was at it. 

Instead of dwelling on those thoughts, no matter how much he wanted to fulfill them, he continued to make his way to the Evening Nip. Trusting his mental map to guide him there. Not caring about the looks people gave him as he ran by, only caring about the paper in his pocket and the meeting he was about to have.  
  
It took a little longer than Molly had expected to find the bar, apparently, his mental map wasn’t as accurate as he thought it was and he had to ask several people where the Evening Nip was. Most of them looked at him oddly before hesitantly pointing him in the right, or sometimes wrong, direction. Molly couldn’t blame them though. But he eventually came to a stop in front of the bar and with a broad grin on his face, he pushed open the doors to the bar. 

Molly took a second to look around, not to his surprise the cover bar was the exact same as it was when he first came here. Even the two guys sitting at the tables were the same. Neither had the bartender, what was his name? Molly racked his brain for a moment as he approached the bar. Chase? Clive? Yeah that was it, Clive

“Clive! Long time no see, how’s the bar been holding up?”  
  
Clive turned his head to look at him, raising a singular eyebrow before his face returned to the seemingly perpetual grimace on his face.  
  
“......Fine. Can I get you something?” He grumbled out, already reaching for a glass.

Molly’s grin grew even wider as he nodded, leaning on the bar a bit, anticipation filling in his chest. He’s been waiting for this for a long time.  
  
“That’s fantastic to hear, and I do think I’ll have some whisky neat if you will,” 

Clive grunted, turning back to the shelf behind him to reach for the whisky, but Molly kept talking.  
  
“Now that I think about it though I don’t have any coin on me, I could offer you many gifts to make up for it,” Molly said. 

Clive’s hand froze in place, slowly, he turned back to look at Molly, his eyes scanning over him like he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Molly just winked at him.

With a sigh, Clive waved a hand, gesturing for Molly to follow him behind the bar. And Molly did, easily following him to the familiar trap door, his tail happily swishing behind him. 

The _actual_ bar hadn’t changed much either, maybe a few tables or chairs had been replaced in the year he hadn’t been here, but other than that it was the same. People of all shapes and sizes were scattered about the bar, a dark-haired half-elven woman having a conversation with a white-haired man in the corner, a half-orc and his friends having a lively conversation that made up most of the sound in the bar.  
  


As he looked around the bar, still standing in the doorway he frowned a little as he realized one thing. 

No Gentleman. 

There goes his plan of going right up to him and demanding answers. 

With a sigh, Molly made his way to the bar, sitting on a stool furthest away from everyone in the room. He didn’t fail to notice the eyes on him as he passed, nor the way the room seemed to quiet down just a little. Molly didn’t care. He would let them stare all they want, as long as they didn’t try to stop them. 

The Bartender, a human woman in her mid-forties, was in front of him as soon as he sat down, narrowing her eyes at him. 

“Haven’t seen you around here before,” She stated with a voice that sounded thick as gravel. 

Molly shrugged, leaning onto the counter with his arms. “Been a long time since I’ve been here,” He said as casually as he could like he didn’t just want to scream the Gentleman’s name and hope he’d magically appear. 

She made a small ‘hm’ sound, her lips forming into a tight line.  
  
“Might I ask why you’ve come back?”  
  
“I need to speak to the Gentleman, obviously,” Molly said with a sly grin. “As soon as possible preferably,” 

The Bartender snorted and shook her head. “Well, you’re going to have to wait a while for that, he’s having a personal meeting upstairs right now and I don’t think he’s coming out anytime soon,” 

Molly took in a deep breath, biting on his lip for just a moment. Fuck. If it was the kind of personal meeting Molly thought it was, which it most likely was, then he would have to wait a while.  
  
“Ah, any guessing on when he’s going to be out?” 

She shrugged. “Could be a while, he might not want to see anyone else after his little party though, so you might not see him until tomorrow,” 

Double fuck. 

He couldn’t wait until tomorrow, he couldn’t. Molly wanted to find the Nein as soon as possible, he wanted to find Yasha as soon as possible. Not to mention the fact that he barely had enough provisions to make it through the last few days of his trip so he barely had any left. He didn’t have any money either. 

Molly was truly riding on meeting the Gentleman today. And gods damn him if he wasn’t going to try his all to do it. He racked his brain for a moment, trying to figure out a way to get the attention of the Gentleman, something big enough that it would cause a stir in the bar. Molly smirked as it hit him, he did want to have a conversation about his choice of employees. 

“Oh that’s a shame,” Molly said, a little too loudly. “I was just going to tell him about how one of his employees was just going around, giving me so much fuel to absolutely ruin him,”  
  
The bar quieted down substantially as he spoke, and he could feel dozens of eyes on him. The Bartender in front of him gave him a pointed look that still somehow managed to include a glare.  
  
“Mister, you don’t know what the hell you're doing,” She grumbled out through gritted teeth.

“Oh but I do,” Molly said, turning to look at the rest of the room. “I mean, wouldn’t it be an absolute damn _shame_ if he found out that Cree, one of his most trusted employees, just resurrected a man who had been dead for years?” 

It was technically a little bit of a lie, but that didn’t stop the mumbles going through the bar at his words. He was a performer, he knew how to play his audience.

Molly leaned onto his hand. “Not to mention that the person that she was trying to resurrect wasn’t exactly the best person. And I don’t mean In the criminal sense because, y’know, you do you on that scene. I mean In the cult sense,” 

Again, something that was technically a lie but could also be the truth. Who knows at this point really.

Cree probably. 

“You all know cults right? How they stoop to places that even you wouldn’t go?” 

Molly looked around the room and found an equal amount of angry glares, nods, and murmurs. Perfect.  
  
“And the fact that someone could argue that it goes against the Raven Queens will to revive a man who’s been dead for years, she might have a god on her tail, tracking her to smite her down,”  
  
Molly tapped his chin for a moment, before forming his mouth into a small ‘O’ and then grinning. 

“I nearly forgot,” He didn’t nearly forget, this had been his trump card from the beginning. “There’s this druid lady who fights evil, and she’s made it her personal mission to find Cree, and wouldn’t be so _sad_ if Cree just happened to spill the fact that she worked here. Wouldn’t be _terrible_ if the woman just happened to completely ruin whatever you have going on here,”  
  
Now _that_ got people talking. Murmurs turned into talking which then turned to actual yelling from a few folks. Molly couldn’t help but lean back and watch the spoils of his story. If this wouldn’t work, then who knows what the hell will. 

The half-orc from before suddenly stood up at his table, his hands slamming down on it. Making both Molly and the rest of the room startle a bit from it.  
“Get the hell out of here,” He growled out.  
  
Molly looked over to him, a daring smile playing on his lips.  
  


“Make me,” 

And just like that, the half-orc was walking towards him, his face set in a determined frown. Molly drew his sword and stood up, unconsciously cutting across the palm of his hand, the blood igniting the sword in a wondrous light before dripping onto the ground. If a fight was what would draw the Gentleman out then he would gladly do it.

The half-orc drew his war hammer from his side tossing it up and down as he rapidly approached Molly. Molly ran through his spells in his head, trying to figure out what would be the best-  
  
“What the hell is happening down there?” It was like the entire room froze as that voice spoke. Molly slowly looked up to one of the balconies on the far side of the room to see the Gentleman, wrapped in a red robe pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“I _thought_ you all knew that there's to be no fighting unless-” The Gentleman suddenly looked up, directly at Molly and the half-orc before turning his full attention on Molly. His mouth was open, looking like he was trying to say something but couldn’t quite get it out. 

Molly waved with his free hand, grinning like there was no tomorrow. “Pleasure to see you again too,” 

“You’re meant to be dead,” The Gentleman finally got out. Molly rolled his eyes. 

“No shit,”  
  
The Gentleman groaned, scrubbing a hand across his slick face.  
  
“Gods dammit-I’ll be down there in a minute, and everyone else,” He suddenly looked down to the rest of the room. “Back to whatever you were doing. Now.” The Gentleman turned on his heel, disappearing behind the balcony. 

The room didn’t do anything for a moment, still reeling from that conversation before it suddenly kicked back up again, conversations continuing like nothing had happened. The Half-Orc huffed, giving Molly the eye as he turned around and walked back to his table. Still keeping a hand on his war hammer. 

Molly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and put his sword away. Glad that he didn’t actually have to fight, his clothes were already dirty as it was. He turned back to the bar, putting his hands on the counter. The Bartender was looking at him in both horror and awe.  
  
“I’ll take a whisky,” He said with a grin. 

It didn’t take long for The Gentleman to come down, only about five minutes or so, but it was long enough for Molly to be halfway through his drink by the time he sat down next to him. Dressed to the nines like he hadn’t been doing anything ten minutes earlier. 

Neither of them said anything for a moment, as the Bartender quickly poured a drink for the Gentleman without him even having to ask. The Gentleman drowned half of the glass in one fail swoop before turning to look at him, not bothering to set the glass down. Molly just gave him a side on glance, trying to not show how excited he is to finally be here. To finally get some answers.

“So,” The Gentleman started, raising a brow. “I didn’t hear much about whatever caused you to almost _fight_ someone, but I did hear mention of Cree’s name,” He took a long sip of his drink. “Explain,”  
  
“Nothing to explain, really, Cree resurrected me a few weeks ago, thinking that I was the person that used to be in my body. Who probably was a cult leader. And Cree may or may not be evil, who knows really,” He said with a shrug.  
  


The Gentleman gave him a long look, one that screamed confusion. “I’m not going to ask, but I’ll keep that in mind,” He said, taking another sip. 

“You still owe me money by the way,”  
  


The Gentleman chuckled at that. “I suppose I do, I’ll get you a thousand gold by the time you leave,”  
  
Molly nearly choked on thin air at that, he had expected just a hundred, maybe even two hundred if he got lucky enough. But a _thousand?_ That was more gold than he’s ever had in his entire lifetime. Granted, he’s only been alive for about two years, but still. 

The Gentleman seemed amused by his surprise, rolling his eyes a bit he said. “Really, Mollymauk, you died on a mission for me. The least I can do is give you a thousand. Plus, you were friends with Jester, that….that adds on for something at the very least,”  
  
Molly didn’t know what Jester of all people had to do with this, but he was thankful for it anyway. Having a thousand gold was going to be fantastic, to say the least, he could probably get some new clothes and wash his coat before leaving the city. 

“Speaking of Jester,” Molly said, finally turning his head to actually look at the Gentleman with a small smile on his face. “Do you know where the Nein are?” 

The Gentleman furrowed his eyebrows. “The nine-” A look of recognition passed his face before he nodded. “Your group, right, right, that’s what you called yourselves,” He mumbled almost distantly. 

“Yes, I do,” The Gentleman said, and Molly felt his heart soar. Knowing where they were, where he could go to meet them again, that’s all he wanted really. 

“But, before I tell you,” Molly held his breath, his soaring heart suddenly hitting the ground with a hard thud. Gods, what the hell did he want from him? 

“I want to know, why me?” 

Molly let out the breath he had been holding, the feeling of dread that had settled in his chest instantly dissipating, replaced by nothing but pure confusion. 

“Pardon?” 

The Gentleman sighed. “Why’d you come to me? I mean, you could’ve just gone off to find your friends yourself, or he’ll ask that Sol guy from the pentamarket,” 

Molly squinted at him for what felt like a minute.  
  
“Did they not tell you?” 

The Gentleman cocked his head. “No?” 

Molly opened his mouth to explain, then decided better of it. He quickly grabbed the note from his pocket and offered it to the Gentleman with two fingers. 

“They left this for me, mainly because I have a tendency to crawl out of graves, even without the whole Cree thing,” 

He stared at Molly, curiously before plucking it from his hand. 

As soon as he did, Molly turned his gaze back to the bar around them, watching everyone go about their conversations. He’d rather not watch the Gentleman read the note, he didn’t want him to ask too many unnecessary questions about it. It was the last piece of the Nein that he still had on him, and it felt like sharing a piece of his heart when he let the Gentleman read it. 

“That’s…..kind of odd I must admit,” The Gentleman said after a few minutes, sliding the note back over to Molly. “But, It’s good to know that your friends trust me enough to lead you to me, even if that was a year ago” 

Molly snorted. “I was going to come here anyways because of the money but….it was nice to know that I could ask you where they were,” Molly said quietly, staring down at his ambered colored whisky. 

“That’s….understandable really,” 

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Both nursing their drinks, in a silent understanding. It was nice, even if some part of Molly felt like he was wasting time. 

“Last I knew, they were heading to Kamordah to find a witch, they left just about a week ago,” 

Molly smiled, a genuine one, one that put his heart on display. One that showed how truly happy he was to finally know where they were. Where he needed to go.  
  
“Thank you, but I have absolutely no clue where that is,” 

The Gentleman looked at him, with that same curious look that he had before. His face turned upwards in a small smirk.

“I have a few spare maps I could lend you, I’ll even pay for a horse for you if you want, but I have a feeling that Kamordah isn’t where you want to go,”  
  
Molly wrinkled his nose. “Why’s that?”  
  
“They tend to not spend much time in one place,” The Gentleman said, knowingly. He paused for a moment, glancing up at the ceiling. “Though, there is one place I think they go often enough,” 

“Then hurry up and tell me, I wanna find them as soon as possible,” Molly said, an annoyed twinge in his voice that he really wished wasn’t there. He never liked getting short with people, but, gods did he want to find his friends. 

The Gentleman chuckled. “Nicodranas, the Lavish Chateau to be specific,”  
  
Molly knew that name, how did he know that name? It took him a second, to run around his memories before it finally came to him, accompanied by a sweet voice saying ‘technically’. 

“Where Jester’s mom works?” 

“And lives,” The Gentleman said, taking the last swig of his drink before waving over to the bartender. 

“From what Jesters told me, they spend a lot of time in Nicodranas, plus, they’re heading off to sea soon so they’ll definitely be there sooner rather than later,” The Bartender quickly made him another drink and The Gentleman gladly accepted it with a kind smile. 

Molly felt his heart drop at those words. They were heading off to sea for whatever reason, and if Molly couldn’t catch them he would be fucked. He’d be alone. Again. They would leave him. Again. 

He couldn’t let that happen.

He _wouldn’t_ let that happen.

“Shit,” Molly said. “Shit, I’m on a time limit,” He said, not actually addressing The Gentleman. 

The Gentleman just hummed in confirmation. “That you are,” He said casually like panic wasn’t rapidly filling in Molly’s chest. 

“I can get you a map and a horse, plus that thousand gold, but that’s about all I can do,” 

“Doesn't one of your little boat tunnels lead to Nicodranas?” Molly asked, grasping at straws. He needed to get there, and he didn’t know what he was doing to do if he didn’t. 

The Gentleman sighed and shook his head. 

“No sadly, though that would be wonderful for trade,” He suddenly set his glass down, looking over at Molly.  
  
“Look, I desperately want to help you, Mollymauk, but there's only so much I can do,” 

Molly closed his eyes but nodded in understanding. 

“I know,” He said, even though it came out as a pained sigh. 

The Gentleman set a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it firmly. “It’s no problem really,” He patted Molly’s shoulder for just a moment before abruptly standing up, picking up his drink as he did so.  
  
“Well, I’ll go ahead and set up the proper arrangements to get everything that you need, feel free to drink as much as you want, it’s on the house,” The Gentleman turned on his heel, starting to walk away. 

Just as Mollymauk turned to grab his wrist. Stopping him in his tracks. 

The Gentleman turned his head back and raised an eyebrow. 

Molly took a deep breath, preparing to ask the question that was on the tip of his tongue since he’s gotten here. 

“Have you seen Yasha?” He asked, his tone almost dark. 

The Gentleman said nothing, just staring at Molly, before he finally frowned. 

“No, I haven’t, I’m sorry,” 

He tugged his arm out of Molly grasps, quickly walking away into the noisy bar. 

Leaving Molly to be the only one to hear his own heart shatter in his chest. The answer running around in his head. Yasha wasn’t here. _Yasha wasn’t here._ **_Yasha wasn’t here-_ **

Molly slammed down the rest of his drink, quickly asking for another one. Ignoring the hot tears that threatened to spill down his face. 

* * *

Molly spent one day in Zadash. It didn’t take long for The Gentleman to come back with a map, a letter he had to give someone at a stable to get a horse, and a large bag of gold. And as soon as he did, Molly was out of that place with nothing other than a small thanks and checking into a decent Inn. Not the Leaky Tap because he couldn't stand the look of the place without the Nein. 

He spent the rest of the day getting provisions, new clothes, specifically a shirt that would cover his chest and someone that could actually wash his coat well. He also managed to find some tarot cards while he was out, and though, they weren’t the ones he loved with all his heart, they would do. 

The next morning he was off, on another horse that he named WC, the third and final. Because gods damn he was putting his foot down after the third one. 

The next week went by in a blur, but also so fucking slow at the same time. It felt like the world around him was running, while his brain was stuck in a tub full of molasses. His thoughts were caught on the fact that nobody had seen Yasha. The fact that even if Yasha ran off on her own every once and awhile, the fact that nobody had seen her left a none to good taste in his mouth. 

Yasha liked the Nein, she told him that before one late night. So he found it hard to believe she just...left. Especially knowing her past. Knowing what she’s gone through. Gods he _really_ hoped she didn’t leave the Nein. 

He didn’t know what he would do if she did. 

And he really hoped that she wasn’t dead either. 

Sometimes the thoughts of her would keep him up at night. Making him get up in the late morning and scramble to get back on the road. 

Other times, his thoughts would go to the fact that he was battling against an invisible clock, and the fact that he could show up at Nicodranas and nobody would be there. 

That he would be alone and afraid again. 

It was a fear that struck through his heart. One that he couldn’t get off his back, even while he was sleeping. 

He rode through Alfield and Trostenwald. He would’ve stopped, maybe asked about Bryce or Gustav. But there was a constant clock ticking in his head. So he didn’t. 

After a week of poorly cooked meals, nightmares, and tarot card shuffling. Molly, on one early morning, reached Nicodranas. 

And it was _beautiful._

He saw the beach first, the yellow sand almost shining in the morning sun, the smell of seawater hitting his nose. Not to mention the water, almost looking like crystal as it hit against the shore.  
  
He immediately understood why Fjord and Jester were so appalled when they found out that none of them had ever seen the ocean. Molly was almost disappointed that he hadn’t seen it sooner. In fact, he wanted to just get off WC and jump into the water, just to see how it would feel. 

But he was on a time limit, so he kept pressing on. Not long after that, he reached the actual city, and Molly’s breath was stolen away from him. 

It was everything Molly would have wanted in a city. There were high arches and beautiful architecture, but it still had this sense of jovialness that Molly adored. People were walking around, doing their daily tasks, but they all seemed so _happy_ doing it. Even the children seemed a little happier. 

Molly could see how Jester grew up here. 

It took him around ten minutes to find the Lavish Chateau once he stopped gawking at the city. The locals had easily pointed him in the right direction, clearly knowing the place where he was going well. Which Molly had expected for the supposed best lay ever. 

The Lavish Chateau was just as Jester had described it, grand, luxurious, and well, lavish. 

Molly didn’t spare a second glance at it as soon as he got there though. He just quickly got off of WC, tying him up onto the nearest post he could find before heading inside. Anticipation and nervousness building in his chest. He couldn’t stop the thought of ‘what if I’m too late?’ from entering his mind as he pushed open the door. But he quickly dismissed it. He might even be early for all he knows, The Gentleman only said they would leave soon. No telling how long soon actually is. 

Molly entered the chateau, whatever he was expecting to see was tossed out of the window as soon as he saw the place. 

The inside was decorated to the nines, and it was just as lavish as the outside was, but instead of a bustling crowd, waiting to see a performance or a pretty girl dancing on a stage just like Jester had described it, he instead saw a man sitting at a table. 

A halfling to be exact, with brown curly hair and wide-rimmed glasses. He was hunched over a book, not seeming to notice the fact that Molly had come in. Or if he did, he was just too invested in his book to care.

Molly glanced around the place, frowning. There wasn’t even a bartender at the bar. It was early in the morning though, so Molly really couldn’t blame them. He looked over to the man, trying to decipher who he was from yards away. 

He doubted that this man worked here, his clothes gave him away. Hell, Molly doubted that he even knew who the Nein was, but he was the only one here, and Molly liked to take chances. 

“Hey!” Molly said as he approached the table. The halfling startled, his eyes frantically darting to Molly, then the staircase at the back of the room, then back to Molly.  
  
“I know this is out of the blue but I need to ask you a question,” He put one of his hands on the table, and offered the halfling what he hoped was a friendly smile.  
  
The halfling stared up at him with wide eyes for a split second. “Um, yeah? What do you need?”

Molly felt his nerves build in the second before he asked his question. Like a building tide waiting to fall. 

“There’s this group called the Mighty Nein, have you seen them or know where they’re at?” 

The halfling cocked his head and squinted his eyes at him. “Yes, they just left a few hours ago to set sail….” 

The tide fell.

With those little words, Molly felt his heartbeat in his chest, heard the roaring of blood in his ears. His breath was coming in short puffs. He was late. What if they already left? What if they left him here alone? Molly gripped the table, the roughness of the side digging into his palm, bringing him back to reality. No, they could still be here. They _had_ to be here. It took hours to set sail, right? He swore Fjord said that once. 

“Which way to the docks?” He asked rapidly, his voice giving away how desperate he truly was. 

The halfling pointed to his right. “Just down from here, but why are you-” 

Molly didn’t stick around to hear the end of that sentence, he was out the door and running as soon as the halfling had told him where to go. He didn’t bother to untie WC, knowing that running would be faster than riding a horse in the middle of a busy city. 

His boots hit the ground in a constant thud, the only thought that his mind was that he needed to get there. Get to the docks, otherwise, he would be alone and this would be for nothing. Molly shoved by people, not caring when they gave him dirty looks or yelled at him. Only caring about getting to the docks, to his friends. 

It took minutes before Molly saw the docks and he was almost relieved, but that was quickly shut down as he looked around the place. There were people _everywhere_. From sailors to guards, hell even empire guardsmen were there for some reason. 

How the hell was he going to find out if the Nein were still here? He didn’t know who to ask, he didn’t know if there was anyone _to_ ask, he didn’t even know what ship they were riding on. 

Mollymauk didn’t know anything. 

The realization hit Molly like a bag of bricks. He didn’t know. He just didn’t know. And usually, he was fine with that. 

He wasn’t anymore. 

Molly walked rapidly through the docks, looking for something, _anything_ that could tell him what he needed to do. Maybe someone would come up to him and just tell him, maybe one of the guards would just kick him out for whatever reason maybe-

Molly stopped dead in his tracks. 

Ahead of him, on one of the docks next to a large ship was a tall woman. With black hair that faded into white as it fell past her shoulders, she was holding some kind of box and was walking towards the ship. 

It took Molly a second for his mind to fully process what he was seeing, but as soon as it did he was running. All previous nerves washed away. 

Yasha.

Yasha was here. Yasha was alive. Yasha was okay. 

_Yasha was okay._

He felt tears building up in his eyes, something warm building in his chest. He wanted to call out to her, to let her know he was here. That _he_ was alive. 

So he did. 

“Yasha!” He yelled, not caring about the stares he was getting as he did, only caring about the person in his sights. 

“Yasha!”

Yasha paused for a moment, then turned her head slowly to look back at him. 

It was like time froze as they made eye contact. 

Yasha’s face went from confused with her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at him, and for that split second, Molly almost thought she had _forgotten._ But it was quickly replaced by shock, her eyes going wide and her mouth hanging open. 

“Mollymauk?” 

Molly didn’t trust his voice to work, so he just nodded. Yasha dropped the box she was holding almost immediately, landing on the ground with a loud bang. Neither of them cared though as they ran to each other. 

They stopped in front of each other, both staring. For all that Molly had wanted this-had _dreamed_ about it-he still didn’t know what to do.

“Is-is it really you?” Yasha asked, her voice just barely above a whisper. 

“Yeah,” Molly said, his voice breaking. Oh gods he was crying now. He reached up and rubbed the tears on his cheeks. “It is,” 

He saw Yasha smile for one brief second before he was enveloped in a crushing hug. He swore he could’ve heard one of his ribs crack but he couldn't find the energy to care as he melted into the hug. Wrapping his own arms around Yasha and burying his face into her coat, letting his tears freely fall. 

He was home. 

“How?” Yasha asked, still hugging him like if she let go he would just disappear. 

“Cree, the tabaxi from the Gentleman's place, resurrected me a few weeks ago, thought I was the bitch who used to be in my body,” 

At that, Yasha squeezed him tighter, her hair falling on top of his head. 

“I’m sorry,” 

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” 

He thought for just a moment that he heard Yasha chuckle at that, but the noise of the docks covered it up quickly and Molly almost wanted to scream at the entire docks. He wanted to hear his best friends laugh after so long. Even if it wasn’t an actual one.

They stayed like that for seconds, minutes, maybe even hours. Molly didn’t know, and quite frankly he didn’t care, all he cared about was the warm arms wrapped around him and Yasha’s breath in his ear. 

Eventually, though, Yasha pulled away but quickly grabbed tightly onto his wrist.  
“Come on,” Yasha said as she pulled him towards the ship. Molly didn’t argue. 

He was dragged onto the deck of the ship, not taking his eyes off Yasha as he did so. It felt like if he took his eyes off of her for even a moment she would disappear. 

As soon as she brought him to the deck she was leading him to a door off to the side and down some stairs, taking a quick left. Molly didn’t know what was happening until he heard laughter. 

He knew that laugh.

It was Jester's laugh. 

Despite his previous worries about Yasha disappearing, he managed to drag his gaze over to the sound of her laugh. And Molly’s heart nearly stopped beating in his chest. 

The Mighty Nein. 

They were talking, Molly knew that, but it all just went in one ear and went out the other. They hadn’t even noticed them yet, and Molly was almost thankful for that.

They looked better. 

Caleb was smiling, actually _smiling,_ while he was talking to Beau, who had her head buried in some kind of journal, wildly gesturing about something. Fjord looked almost...lighter, like he had gotten something off his chest while Molly was gone. He was smiling smugly as he talked to a halfling woman with braids and a necklace full of buttons. Jester was drawing in her sketchbook, sitting across from a tall man with pink hair that made Molly almost nauseous looking at it.

It reminded him of the moss. 

Unconsciously, he reached down and rubbed the scar across his chest. He was here. Yasha was here. The Nein, except for Nott, was here.

He was okay. 

Molly and Yasha stood there for a few moments, just looking over the room until Yasha looked back at him with a small smile. One that told him to go ahead, tell them you're here. Molly knew when to take a hint.

He took a deep breath, and instead of speaking, he reached over to a nearby wall, quickly knocking just loud enough for them all to hear. 

The room stopped talking almost immediately, all of their eyes falling onto them, and then quickly onto Molly. Jester dropped her pencil on her sketchbook, Caleb had his mouth hanging open, looking for words that weren't there. Beau was just staring, her eyes wide, Fjord seemed to be mimicking her as well. The halfling woman was looking at him, then to Caleb, then to him again. And the pink-haired man was just staring at all of them, looking completely baffled. 

“Hey,” Molly finally said after a minute of staring. “It’s been a while,”

That seemed to leap the room into action. Jester got up from the floor impressively fast, running towards him at full speed. “Ohmygod you’re alive!” She basically screamed, tackling Molly into a hug. Molly laughed and gladly accepted her hug, even if it did leave a few bruises. 

“Who-how-and fuckin _what_?” Beau said, closing her journal rapidly, just dropping it on the floor. Caleb glanced sadly at the journal for a second before looking back at Molly. 

“Good to see you too, Beauregard,” Molly said with a small smile, he’s missed this. 

Beau’s face filtered through too many emotions to count, before finally settling on a neutral one.  
  
“Jester, move, ah,uh, please?” Beau asked, already walking towards them. Jester nodded against his shoulder before quickly giving him one last squeeze and moving out of the way. 

And just like that, he was tackled with another hug. Molly swore his ribs would be cracked from how hard all these women squeezed him. 

“I’ve fuckin missed you,” Beau said against his neck, and he could hear the smile in her voice. He smiled, tears filling his eyes once again. He wrapped his arms around Beau. 

“Missed you too,” He said quietly. 

“She even got a tattoo based off of yours, that’s how you know she’s missed you,” The halfling woman said, crossing her arms. Molly furrowed his eyebrows both confused by the fact Beau got a tattoo and by the voice. He’s heard that voice before….

Beau let go of him, turning to look at the halfling with a glare. “Shut up, Veth, we were having a moment,” 

The halfling-Veth, apparently-opened her mouth to retort but Molly interrupted her. 

“Why do you sound like Nott?” 

The room was pure silence for a moment before Veth spoke. “Oh yeah, okay, long story short, got cursed by a witch to become a goblin, I went by Nott so I wasn’t reminded of who I used to be, broke that curse and became a halfling again,” 

Molly nodded along with her story, not quite understanding her that much, but he understood that she was Nott in some way. He could get the full story later, right now he just wanted to be with his friends. 

“Well then, do you want a hug too?” He asked, almost half-joking. But Veth took the sentence in stride. 

“Fuck yeah I do, get down here,” 

Molly grinned, kneeling down, he opened his arms wide. Veth walked up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Molly hugged her back. Even if he and Veth weren’t the best of friends while he was here, it was still nice to hug her. 

Suddenly, someone across the room cleared his throat. 

“I ah, hate to be the one to address this question, but how exactly are you back, Mollymauk?” Caleb asked, and gods it was so nice to hear his voice again. 

Before Molly could even answer, Yasha was already on it. “Cree resurrected him,” 

“Thought I was Lucien,” Molly said, just as Veth unwrapped her arms from around his neck. He quickly stood back up. “Managed to get away from her and head to Zadash. It’s a long story, really. But thanks for that note, Caleb,” He said, making direct eye contact with Caleb and smiling. Caleb, instead of shying away from the eye contact like Molly expected him too, just smiled softly back at him. 

“It was no problem,” 

“Molly! Molly,” He looked back to see Jester smiling wide. Her tail swishing happily. “You came back just in time! We’re going to Traveler Con and you get to experience sailing for the first time and-”  
  
“We do have to go to a war meeting first,” A crisp accent interrupted, Molly looked towards Fjord,the source of the voice, furrowing his eyebrows. 

“What the fu-”

“Okay, yeah, hi, great to see you again Molly, but this is my real voice, it’s,” Fjord sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. “Another long story,” 

Molly nodded with a small frown. He had a feeling that a lot of things were going to be long stories now. 

“But hey!” Jester suddenly said, noticing his frown. “We’ll have a lot of time for long stories while we’re at sea, right?” 

Jester’s eyes were searching him, and Molly understood why. She wanted to know if he was coming with them. Molly didn’t come all this way just to see them. He was sticking with them until the end. 

“Of course, who wouldn’t want that?” 

Jester cheered, her arms going up in the air. 

“As long as you promise to tell me the most embarrassing ones though,”  
  
“Like Fjords turtle experience?” Beau asked with a snort, though Molly did see the red around her eyes. 

“In my defense, it was a big ass turtle-” 

“I hate to interrupt,” Molly looked over to see the pink-haired man, standing with a small smile on his face. “But I don’t believe we’ve met,” 

Jester gasped. “Ohmygosh, you’re right!” She clapped her hands together. 

Molly smiled at the man. “My name’s Mollymauk Tealeaf, Molly, to my friends,” 

The man tilted his head, staring at him almost curiously.  
“Caduceus Clay, pleasure to meet you, Molly. Though I do have to ask, you died, correct?” 

Molly stopped breathing for a moment, he knew Caduceus meant well. Was just asking an innocent question, but it didn’t mean that Molly wasn’t affected by it. 

Molly’s breath returned after a minute.  
  
“Yes, twice, technically,” 

Caduceus just continued to stare.  
  
“I’m glad everyone here is happy to see you, and I’m sure we’ll become friends. But, just a little warning, coming back like you have can have its consequences and nobody knows when they’ll catch up.” 

Molly bit his lip. He understood where Caduceus was coming from. Hell, he probably knew that himself in the back of his mind. But it still stung, it still hurt to hear. It made a sense of dread settle in his chest that he didn’t want. He was here with his friends, he wanted to be happy. Even if it was only for a moment. 

So instead of agreeing with him, he just said. “Ominous! I like him,” He clapped his hands together. “But, anyways, aren't we going to be leaving soon?”  
  
Fjord suddenly slapped his forehead. “Shit that’s right, I gotta go tell Orly that we're going to have one more person on board.” And with that he was off, running back up the stairs.

“Hey, wait for me!” Beau yelled up, rushing after Fjord, but not before giving Molly a side hug. 

“I should probably go tell the assembly that we're having someone else on board too,” Caleb said quickly following Beau. 

“I’ll come with you, Caleb! And Molly?” She grabbed his hands for a moment. “We’re all really glad you’re here, even if it’s kinda weird.” Before Molly could say anything, she was gone, leaving him to be confused with Yasha and Caduceus. 

“I’ll just go ahead and leave you two be,” Caduceus said, making his way up the stairs much less quickly than the rest of them had. 

Leaving just him and Yasha. 

“Hey,” Yasha said, elbowing him. “You wanna sleep in my bed tonight?” 

Molly smiled, one that was happy, one that was ready to take on the world. One that was hopeful. 

“As long as I get to braid your hair.” 

“I assumed you would,” 

Mollymauk was home.

He was with his friends, with Yasha. On a ship. And he was home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Wow! This is the longest thing I've ever written. And it's my first work in the CR fandom. so I hope I do these amazing characters justice!  
> Comment(even bad ones) and kudos are always appreciated!


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